A 32-year-old Edmonton woman has been charged with public mischief after she allegedly called in a false report of a shooting while she was pulled over by police for a traffic stop.
The Edmonton Police Service said that around 11 p.m. Saturday, a routine document check traffic stop was being conducted in the area of 50 Street and Roper Road in the city’s southeast.
During the stop, officers were reassigned to a 911 call that reported shots fired in the immediate area.
Police said that officers could not find an incident connected to the call. The woman who reported the gunshots would also not give her name, according to a post the EPS made on social media Monday.
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“After members checked into the phone number of the caller, they discovered it belonged to the female passenger of the vehicle subject of the traffic stop only a few minutes earlier,” police said.
The officers located the vehicle near 32 Street and Roper Road and stopped her again.
She was arrested and charged with public mischief and summoned to court under the Emergency 911 Act. The woman also received a ticket, and her vehicle was towed due to lack of insurance.
A person who is found guilty under the Emergency 911 Act could face a fine of up to $5,000 for a first offence. The act was created in 2014 to discourage frivolous 911 calls.